Interviews

Hello, and thanks very much for taking the time for this interview.
No problemo.

The studio diary for Songs for the Sinners mentions the degree of variety in these songs. Could you give some examples of this?
"Air" is a relly good example when changing from one style to another. We also managed to bring in some elements that are not the usual Charon, i mean influences from different styles of music. It doesn´t have to mean that we´re trying to switch from a style to another but to give us more space working with this kind of music.

You've identified several of the tracks on the SFTS as being potential singles, and two have already been released. Have you ever made an album with so many obvious candidates for singles? Will you be releasing any more from this album?
There´s no other point releasing singles than getting the airplay and advertising the album itself in order to sell more gigs...in order to buy some bread and butter! I don´t think we´re going to release any more singles from this album even it would be possible. People should hang on to the album itself. There´s more to give than just one single. "Songs for the sinners" is good enough to listen through.

Do you think the new album has more of a live feel than was the case with previous releases?
Yes. That was something we wanted to hold on to.

SFTS is the first Charon album for which songwriting credits are not broken down track by track (although more specific info is given in your descriptions of the songs posted at your website). Does crediting the music to the group as a whole reflect a greater level of collaboration for SFTS than was the case with your other albums or just a different way of acknowledging the contributions?
We have the situation in the band where everybody needs everybody to finish these songs and everything is made by playing together. We are all arranging the songs together as well. That´s the way it has always been but since now we decided to spell it that way.

Guitarist Lauri Tuohimaa has been an official member of the band since Spring 2004, and a touring member longer than that, but SFTS is the first album you have recorded with him. What has it meant to have Lauri in the band--what impact has he had in terms of band chemistry, performance, songwriting and recording.
With Lauri the band was like in a fresh beginning. Everything felt new and interesting again. The same thing happened with rehearsing and composing the new songs. That was very healing for everyone. For the first moment i met Lauri I felt like we´ve known for ages. A the start we had to push him a little to bring his ideas to the album, of course it´s a strange situation for him at first to compose music with the new band. With Lauri we managed to play more together and that´s the main reason for the sound of "songs for the sinners", the joy of making music like we wanted.

Many Charon fans must be pleased about the presence of the cello on SFTS, having enjoyed your use of it in the past, as on Tearstained. Songs like the amazing "Bullet," for example, are so enhanced by the cello. What is it, do you think, about the sounds of this classical instrument that make it so effective in metal music of various types and with varying degrees of emphasis--from Apocalyptica to Hevein to Charon, and so on?
Don´t know anything about "why" it fits to the music like this. It just sounds good, there´s no matter what the instrument will be after all as long as it works. We didn´t choose Cello because of its classical tone. I hate classical music and mixing classical with metal is like mixing vodka with urine, no thanks.

Vesa Ranta's cover art (as well as his photography) for the new album represents a departure from that of your previous releases, more stark. In what ways does this style suit the music on SFTS? You yourself are also credited for the art and the booklet. What was the nature of your collaboration with Vesa Ranta?
I made the cover. Don´t tell it to anyone...heh. We had enormous problems to find the atmosphere for the "right" cover artwork so i just send that idea to Vesa one day and so we continued. We had nice moments with Vesa in the Messenger, never "seen" grown man almost burst in tears at the middle of conversation without being wasted or so. Well the cover is what i dream to be while being the opposite and it´s eating me alive from the inside. Strange...i´m gonna need a cigarette now...

How would you compare the emotional content and moods of SFTS to those of your other albums?
In other albums we succeeded with the moods by accidentally, this time it was all planned. I think the atmosphere is more fragile, more sensitive this time and it´s created with nuances in the playing like we wanted it to be...more jamming and a clear plan where we are going.

The more I read your lyrics (as opposed to just hearing them), the more struck I am by how poetic they are, especially in the case of SFTS. Is the use of figurative language a natural mode for you when it comes to articulating emotions? Do you find yourself speaking in metaphors frequently in your daily life, not just in writing? And do you agree with me that the lyrics on the new album are some of the strongest you've ever written?
I´m never happy for what i´ve done but this time i´m pretty ok with these writings. This is just the way i´m writing and expressing myself, but not in my daily life, hehe. People would consider me strange...maybe the already consider me strange, doesn´t matter anyway. I just hope that this is something more mature that i´ve done this time. Didn´t expect them to effect some people so strong when i first started to receive letters from fans who told me how much they mean to them. I had to tell them that i just draw the picture and you do the thinking. It´s them who they see at the texts and this is what i want from my lyrics.